“Help Us Change Our Life!”
The children eagerly explore the contents of the grocery bags we brought them. The five-member family lived in this small one-room dormitory.
Alyona Implored the Family Team: “Help Us Change Our Life!”
“Alyona’s family lived in a very small dormitory room,” said Family Team worker Natalia. “The neighbors drank constantly, and Alyona and her husband had their own substance abuse problems. Their family, which includes three children, received no government assistance, and there was a constant lack of food, clothes, and medicine.
“We started helping this family by bringing food and practical items. Each time we spent with them we prayed together and encouraged them towards a changed life. The little son Boris prayed, ‘Dear God, please help and bless Mom and Dad!’
“His vision was very poor; his glasses were broken, and he could hardly see anything! We took him to an eye doctor, and he was given specially-made glasses, treatment for an eye infection, and a statement regarding his visual impairment.
“Alyona started attending the church’s women’s events. Soon, she asked if she could come to our shelter home with her children to help her break free from substance abuse.
“We didn’t have room for four at our Yekaterinburg home, but we arranged for Alyona and her two youngest children to be housed at our MP shelter in Chelyabinsk, 120 miles away. Her 10-year-old daughter came to stay at the Yekaterinburg shelter, which was already familiar to her.”
It was an exciting moment when, at the end of February, we transported Alyona and her children from their dormitory to our shelter homes. Now they could begin a new changed life - free of danger and lack - in our safe and beautiful rehabilitation centers.
